Terror of Maximalist Religion

During a catastrophic, historic event, people often try to find meaning behind it and look towards their own faith for unanswered questions. Bruce Lincoln book “Holy Terrors” shows amidst a horrific catastrophe where that line of politics and religion can be drawn between parties, and how one’s interpretation of events can be skewed when maximal’s religion begins to overpower politics.

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Jerry Falafel, a Catholic maximal’s states about the September 1 lath attacks, “l really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the says and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the UCLA, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularism America. Point the finger In their face and say: you helped this happen. This could be If we all fast and pray this could be god’s call to revival. Falafel’s Maximal’s religious views caused him to fled meaning behind these attacks, fueled by the religious beliefs he stood behind, and blamed those who “sinned” against God as the cause of the attacks of September 1 lath, 2001 at the Pentagon and the World Trade Centers. He claimed that God had lifted his “veil of protection” and that the planes crashing into the World Trade Center buildings were what the bible calls a time for ‘religious revival’ and God was allowing these atrocities to happen to prove a point.

Lincoln, shows that Falafel was In fact not the only religious maximal’s speaking out for answers and blame, but the political leaders President George W. Bush of the U. S and al-Qaeda Islamic leader Osama Bin Laden prove that there was more than politics and government law behind the “political” ar following the aftermath of September 1 1 the, and that even before the attack, Maximal’s religion was used as an excuse for terror and destruction and although more subtle and less militant, Bush was equally Maximal’s.

Lincoln begins by explaining the differences between his views on maximal’s and minimalist religious views, and how one’s perspective on these catastrophic events can change based on these views. Lincoln explains the Maximal’s approach to religion should permeate all aspects of social, Indeed of human existence, rather than the fundamentalist’ (Lincoln 5).

As a Maximal’s, Lincoln believes that religion embodies everything that person does, and that it should take precedence in social order and can give explanations for political and social powers, as opposed to a Minimalist, who Is “restricted to an Important set of (chiefly metaphysical) terms, protects its privileges against state intrusion but restricts its activity and influence to its specialized sphere” (Lincoln 5).

He sets out his definition of what religion must consist of, split up into four parts: Discourse, Practice, Community, and Institution. Discourse contains al the verbal and textual examples of “transcendence,” practice contains the religious rituals, community describes the people practicing the specific religion and construct their reality and social world around It, and institution is a foundation of where the religion could be practiced. Both George W.

Bush and Osama Bin Laden use these four foundations of religion to further represent their Maximal’s Impact on the War on Terror, starting with the terrorist Instruction manual leading to both of their speeches that parallel one another on October 7th, OFF Lincoln dissects the Mohammad Data letter and shows how it uses Maximal’s religion to explain the horrific terrorism that took place: “When the hour of reality approaches… Wholeheartedly welcome death for the sake of God. Always remembering God.

Either end your life while praying, seconds before the target, or make your last words, ‘There is no God, but God, Muhammad is his messenger,” (Lincoln 10). By using the evocation of passages from the Quern, al- Qaeda used their religion to fuel and Justify their devastating attacks to prove to the oral the extent of the power they possessed. By destroying the World Trade Center and damaging the Pentagon, al-Qaeda was seeking to symbolically demonstrate the triumph of their Maximal’s Islamic ideology over the “minimalist” superpower, the U.

S, and that the attack exemplifies that clash between the two different religious styles. However, George W. Bush proves through his speech following the terrorist attacks that America’s policy is still firmly rooted in faith by his ideals, and the parallels between Bush and Bin Alden’s represent the power of their Maximal’s religious views. Bush and Bin Alden’s speeches show symmetric dualism and seem to mirror one another: both set up a binary view of “Us vs.. Them. Both leaders “constructed a Machine struggle where Sons of Light confront Sons of Darkness,” and tout themselves as protectors of the weak (Lincoln 20). They both use their religious Maximal’s to appeal to other Maximal’s of their shared belief, as Bin Laden called for Islam to stand up and fight against the Infidels, similar to Jerry Falafel’s call for a “revival. ” George W. Bush seems to lay out a foundation for “Good vs.. Evil” or “Civilized vs.. Terror” in his speech, and although more subtle than al-Qaeda devout intentions, Bush incorporates biblical parallels that would appeal to the Christians.

He shows dualism that dominate the Christian’s interpretation of the events of September 1 lath and take up more fully after a cursory discussion of the binary features of the conventional Islamic concept of Jihad. In his speech, he incorporates verses from the bible so Christians can relate, and hints to fellow conservative Christian Maximal’s that this is a religious war, the we’re on the right side of the war, and that God is on our side. At the end of a political speech, it is typical that the leader says “God bless America. However, Bush ends with “May God continue to bless America,” further implying that God will remain on our side, and that the U. S. Is not Just a present day Jihad, but a Utopia. The parallels between Bush and Bin Alden’s speeches and their reactions to the attacks on September 1 lath demonstrate the power of religious Maximal’s. While Jerry Falafel exemplifies a strong, outward Christian Maximal’s view, blaming the attack on those that have sinned and the form a religious revival of God, Bush seems o be equally Maximal’s, as he proves, though subtly, how much religion integrates itself into politics and culture.